Masked Desire
by HopefulSorrow
Summary: Sajin is sent on a mission to guard a noble family that has more secrets than the furry captain may be able to handle. In which my OC turns OOC. Characters from my other story, but you don't need to read that to enjoy this.
1. A Grave Matter

**AN: This is not the story I had intended on writing, but this is what I got, and since I haven't written in forever, I decided it was better than nothing. So, here ya go. I decided to make this one T, not M, because I was in the mood for something sweet, and when I added all that sugar, the lemons got sick and ran away. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach; I only borrow the characters to play with for a while. **

Chapter 1: A Grave Matter

The doors of the First Squad meeting hall closed slowly behind the last captain to arrive to the meeting. In the corner of the dimly lit room stood an unfamiliar man with a nervous expression on his face.

Head Captain Yamamoto addressed him, causing the man to jump. "I understand that you have come here seeking a favor?"

The man stepped forward. "Not I, sir. I have come on behalf of my master, Lord Izo Himura. He seeks the aid and protection of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. An attempt has been made on his life, and he fears for himself and his family. My master beseeches you to help us, though not without compensation, of course."

The Head Captain folded his hands in front of his face thoughtfully. "Does your master not have guards under his employment?"

The man nodded. "He does, but he fears it will not be enough to stop an assassin."

"Why does someone want so badly to kill this Lord Himura?" Captain Soifon said.

The man looked perplexed. "My master is a wealthy and affluent man. I should think that would be reason enough."

"Surely we could spare a few men from each division," Captain Ukitake stated.

The man shook his head. "My master insisted that he needed someone of captain level."

Eyebrows were raised. Several of the captains protested.

"Please," the poor man said. "I am only following my master's orders." The room fell quiet again. "My master's estate is very large, and it is remote, nearly a day's journey from here. The assassin, or assassins, in the most recent attempt to kill Lord Himura, laid an elaborate trap that took the lives of nearly two dozen guards. The trap was undetectable, but perhaps for a captain…" He trailed off.

"Tell your master we will consider his request," the Head Captain said. After the man had gone, he continued, "It is a grave matter indeed. We are still short three captains, and I hesitate to weaken our forces further by sending another away."

"Head Captain, I believe it may be beneficial to honor the Lord Himura's request." Everyone turned to look at Captain Komamura. "It will show our squads that we have faith in their abilities, while showing our enemies our faith in our own strength."

Captain Kurotsuchi sneered at the wolf captain. "If you are so concerned about helping this man, you should be the one to go."

"I would not object to it," Captain Komamura replied coolly. "After all, I am positive that my squad is competent enough to hold up without me for a while."

Captain Kurotsuchi fumed at the veiled insult, but was cut off before he could retort.

"Very well," Head Captain Yamamoto said. "Captain Sajin Komamura will aid the lord, and the other squads will pick up the slack in the administrative work in his absence. Take care of this problem as quickly as possible. If the matter is not resolved in a week, you shall return here to report, and it shall be decided whether you will return or another captain shall be sent in your place. Am I understood?" All of the captains nodded. "Dismissed."

Sajin sank down into the chair behind his desk. _What have I gotten myself into?_ he wondered to himself. He suspected that the mission would not be a hard one, yet he felt tired just thinking about it. Then again, he had been feeling tired a lot lately. He was not the only one to notice; his lieutenant was constantly advising him to take a vacation and release some stress.

_Maybe I can look at this as if it were a vacation, _he thought suddenly. _I will be away from the Seireitei, spending time on a large estate in the country. I have to go regardless; I may as well try to enjoy some aspect of the trip._

He stood and began preparing things for his absence, his mood a bit lighter.

"Who knows," he mused aloud. "It might even turn out to be fun."

**AN: Alright, that chapter was boring to write and was a little sticky. It gets better, I promise. Sorry if I am slow to update, but I can't escape school (unfortunately). If anyone read my other story, Nightmares and Daydreams, you may notice some similarites with this one because they were originally the same thing, but somewhere branched off into two different things. Comment if you want to make my day.**


	2. Unexpected Welcome

**AN: I just realized that I have fun making my characters act OOC, especially when they are being mean. Random thought of the day: Tuesday has got to be the most boring day of the week.**

**Disclaimer: You and I both know I do not own Bleach, so I don't know why I bother to repeat it.**

Chapter 2: Unexpected Welcome

The Lord Himura's manor was enormous. Sajin, as big as he was, felt dwarfed by the estate house.

The journey here had taken him the better part of a day, even when he intermittently used shunpo. He could only imagine how long it must have taken Himura's servant; no wonder the poor man had look frazzled.

The same man came to greet him now. Bowing deeply, the servant man said, "Honorable Captain, the Lord and Lady send their greetings and greatest thanks. My name is Gorou, and I am at your service. Please, do not hesitate to ask for anything that may make your stay with us more comfortable."

Sajin took in his surroundings again. "I did make one observation that I wondered at. For an estate so large, I have seen so few workers, or any people for that matter."

Gorou looked so uncomfortable as he thought of an answer that Sajin began to regret bringing it up. The servant finally said hesitantly, "You see, sir, ever since the latest incident with the murder of so many guards, all of the servants have left. They are frightened, for themselves and for their families. Very few of us remain, but we make up the difference with our service."

Sajin nodded and allowed Gorou to lead him to the entry of the house. Standing in the doorway was a young woman, who seemed to be sweeping.

Sajin sucked in a sharp breath. He had never seen someone so beautiful. Nothing about her was particularly amazing: her clothing was dirty and worn, her hair unkempt, her shoulders hunched. What had dazzled the wolf captain to such an extent was her eyes. They were bright and full of life, and they were the exact color of the sea after a storm.

She looked up as the two men approached, the expression on her face blank.

Gorou spoke. "This is Captain Sajin Komamura. He has come to aid the lord in our time of need. Will you please show him to his room while I announce him to the Lord and Lady?"

She looked up at Sajin then. His heart thudded when her eyes met his. A smile spread across her face, lighting it up, and he was sure his breathing stopped. Then she said something he never would have expected.

"Only if he doesn't have fleas."

A stunned silence followed in which Gorou's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Sajin simply stared as the girl continued to smile serenely at him.

Gorou finally found his voice, and it was angry. "How dare you…"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Follow me, fur ball," she said abruptly, ignoring the other man completely.

Sajin followed behind her, still too shocked to really think anything other than a feeble, _I don't have fleas. Do I? _He felt the sudden need for a shower just to check.

The room the servant woman showed him to was proportional to the size of the house, meaning it was larger than any room Sajin had ever stayed in. The bed was big enough to accommodate him comfortably, an unusual occurrence. The bedding was plush and extravagent. He put his things down, feeling more than a little out of place in the elegant setting.

"You will have time to gawk later," the servant woman said in an exasperated tone. "Let me show you to the Lord and Lady before they have a fit about you being late."

Sajin chose not to comment and simply followed her out of the room and down the hallway, but he could not help but notice the way she had spit out her master's title. She led him into a long room.

"Captain Komamura," a man's voice rang out. "I welcome you to my humble home."

Lord Izo Himura and his wife sat on what Sajin equated to thrones at the very end of the room. The man was older, scars on his face and into his graying hairline. The woman was young and golden, her long her and her skin almost seeming to glow. Both were dressed in flowing robes that were far too formal to be worn in everyday situations such as this. Sajin stopped himself from snorting. _Humble my ass,_ Iba would have said.

The smile on the lord's face could only be described as politely smug. It was a look that said, _I may need your help for the moment, but I am still far better than you could ever hope to be._ The lord said aloud, "My family thanks you greatly for your aid. I have the greatest confidence that our problem will be solved shortly. In the meantime, anything you wish for, you need only ask. Normally my servants would be available whenever you called, but I seem to find myself a bit shorthanded. Therefore, I will only be able to assign you one, but that one will stay by your side constantly. She has a bad temper, so I give you my permission to punish her as if she were your own."

Sajin blinked. He did not want to speculate on what "punish her as if she were your own" might implicate in the noble's eyes.

Sajin glanced at the girl, who still stood by his side. She looked absolutely dismayed.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Himura," Sajin said, feeling rather awkward himself.

"Please, my friend, call me Izo. And this is my wife, Takara." The woman gave a small, smileless nod of her golden head. "You must excuse us now. We will see you at dinner."

It took a moment for Sajin to realize that he had been dismissed. He began exiting the room, the servant woman still following.

"Not you, my dear," Izo called to her. She froze. Sajin stopped as well upon seeing the look on the lord's face. Just as abruptly, Izo looked back towards the captain, the anger melting back into cordial tolerance, and said, "No need to worry. She will be with you in a moment to tend to whatever you need."

Reluctantly Sajin let the door slide closed behind him, but not before he caught the look of despair in the woman's beautiful grey eyes.

**AN: I updated sooner than I expected I would. How did I accomplish such a feat? I ignored my gag-inducing math homework for a while, that's how. In fact, I thought up this story during math class a while ago. I was so zoned out that I did not realize the teacher had brought her dog to class, as she often does, so I nearly fell out of my chair when she barked (the dog, not the teacher). :) But I digress. As always, thanks for reviews, and keep 'em coming; I am always open to any suggestions or comments. In the future I will try to keep my AN shorter. Maybe.**


	3. Darkness

**Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me. **

Chapter 3: Darkness

The sun had disappeared over the horizon hours ago. The world was sleeping peacefully except for a lone figure dressed all in black, face covered by a grey mask. The figure slunk between the shadows, watching the manor house at the base of the hill.

The lord and his lady would be more difficult to kill now that they were being protected by a captain, but the feat was not an impossible one. In fact, the assassin had a plan to take care of the captain as well… Hidden to the world, the figure disappeared to carry out its preparations.

* * *

Amaya looked up desolately at the dark ceiling. The room was illuminated only by a single candle, resulting in shifting shadows and dark corners. Tonight, however, it was not the dark that was bothering her.

She was now the only female servant in the entire manor, one of only three servants to remain at all. The rest had not fled in terror, as Izo had told the captain, but had been dismissed. Amaya had to smile at that; Izo was afraid that one among the servants had betrayed him. _Good,_ she thought. _Let him be afraid. It would do the man good to have a little reality check._

Perhaps it was her irritation with the lord, or the lingering tension from the earlier murders. Something had happened to make her behave so uncharacteristically rude towards the captain upon his arrival.

She snorted quietly to herself. Well, uncharacteristic was not quite the right word. A mischievous smile lit up her face as she thought about all of her past "misdeeds" toward Gorou and the lord. And normally, treating one of the lord's guests in such a way would not phase her.

But the look on this man, wolf's, face… He was obviously sensitive about his appearance (who wouldn't be?), and she had hit a raw nerve. It was not often that Amaya regretted anything, but this she regretted fully. The expression in his eyes had been raw, hurt, broken. As if he had been hit, or stabbed in the back.

She found herself ashamed and humilated. _I wonder if I could drown myself in the bathtub._ She let herself slip a little lower beneath the water, then thought better of it. _Too humiliating, drowning in a foot of water. _Instead she stood, dried off, and blew out the candle. She dressed in the dark, allowing time for her eyes to readjust to the darkness.

She stepped quietly into the bedroom of the sleeping captain. Many people would think it strange that Amaya was here. Hell, she thought it was strange, too. But the servants' quarters had showers, and she had desperately needed the relaxation a bath brought. All of the extra rooms were empty, the hot water turned off, which left only this one, and she had decided it was worth the risk of being caught.

Just as she reached the bedroom door, she paused. Turning back toward the bed, she listened to the captain breathing. It was a soothing sound, slow, deep, and soft. Amaya watched in the darkness as the wolf captain's chest rose and fell, and suddenly she wanted anything but to be alone.

She found herself a moment later at the foot of the large bed. Curling up at the corner farthest from the sleeping man, Amaya relaxed. So what if she got caught. She knew all too well that things could be much worse.

* * *

There was something on the bed. Sajin had never been a heavy sleeper. As a captain, he had trained himself to wake up at the slightest disturbance of his surroundings. Yet, somehow, something had not only crept into his room but was now sleeping on his bed.

As he tried to remember whether he had seen any dogs when he came in, the creature stirred, and he realized what it was.

The servant girl, the one who had accused him of having fleas and called him a fur ball, was now sleeping on the foot of his bed. He blinked several times and leaned forward just to be sure he was seeing correctly. Sure enough, the rising sun revealed her dark hair and pale skin. Sajin was struck again with how beautiful she was; he tried to push the thought from his head by reminding himself how she had acted toward him earlier. It was hard, though, because she looked so peaceful now.

He went to the closet and looked around until he found a blanket. Carefully he draped it over the sleeping woman before climbing back into bed for a few more minutes of sleep.

**AN: I apologize a thousand times for waiting so long to update. In a way, the huge snowstorm and power outage today was a good thing because it gave me time to work on this. Plus, I love the snow, and now I have a foot of it to play in. :) Obviously, I switched point of views here and plan to do it in other chapters as well. I think it is pretty straightfoward, but if anyone gets confused or just wants them, I will be glad to add headings stating whose point of view it is. **


	4. Light

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

**AN: I realize I have not updated in forever (an exageration, but not by much), and for that I am truly sorry and guilty. I have just been so overwhelmingly busy that suddenly I turn around and realize I have not written in months... I have been going through sort of a rough spot in life. :/ Things are starting to quiet down now, so I promise, I won't let time slip up on me like that again. If you are still with me after all this time, I thank you for your patience and hope it will be worth the wait (maybe not this chapter but soon). :)**

Chapter 4: Light

It was a nice day, clear and bright and inviting. Sajin followed slowly behind another of the lord's servants. He was a young man, dark-haired and sober-faced. He had introduced himself briefly as Hibiki before stating that Lord Izo had given him orders to show Sajin around the grounds.

Sajin had to admit that he took in his surroundings only cursorily. His true attention was focused wholly on the servant girl who was trailing shortly behind him. She had been gone by the time Sajin was awakened by Hibiki. It perplexed the captain why she would be there in the first place, especially after the way she had acted towards him upon their first meeting. Every time he was about to broach the subject, however, something stopped him.

_If she made a point to be gone before I woke up,_ he thought, _she obviously does not want to be caught. But by me, or someone else?_

He was so deep in thought that he did not realize he had stopped walking until the servant girl ran into him.

"Ow," she winced as she hit the ground. She glared menacingly up at Sajin.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, offering her his hand.

Which she swatted away. "Forget it." She pulled herself up and started after Hibiki, who had not noticed them stop.

"Did I do anything specific or do you just generally hate me?"

She looked surprised. "I don't hate you," she said quietly after a minute. She eyed him warily before adding, "I might not like your type, but that is not personal."

"My type?" Sajin repeated. He had made progress, no doubt, since his appearance had been revealed and no one had chased after him with torches and pitch forks, but his appearance was still a tender subject.

She nodded. "You know. Captains. That 'type', if you would call it that." She gave him a look he could not place. He did, however, recognize the bitterness in her tone. "Captains tend to fall under the same category as nobles."

Sajin was almost afraid to ask his next question. "If you hate nobles so much, then why do you stay?"

She sighed a little. A faraway look came into her stormy eyes. "Mostly because of Hibiki." At his questioning look, she added, "He is Lord Himura's personal servant. He's also my brother."

Sajin was surprised at first, but, once he thought about it, recognized the similarities between the two, at least as far as appearances went. "Are the two of you close?"

She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, giving Sajin a pointed look. "You certainly do ask a lot of questions. We should probably catch up to Hibiki." The young man was far ahead of them now. "Coming, Captain?"

"Sajin."

Once again the girl stopped. The look of confusion on her face was almost amusing. "Huh?"

Sajin's lip twitched upward in a small smile. "I want you to call me Sajin. Maybe if you don't think of me so much as a captain we can get over some of this hostility."

"Well, that was unexpected," she muttered to herself. Then to him, "That was nice. And, since I am sure no one has bothered to take the time to introduce me to you, I am Amaya." With that she turned and followed after her brother.

The walk was just as quiet as it had been before their conversation, but now Amaya walked at Sajin's side. _Hopefully now living here will be easier. Simpler, at the very least._

He did not know how wrong he was.

**AN: Yay, dramatic foreshadowing! Bear with me; it gets better, I promise. I have plans...**


	5. Agitation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

Chapter 5: Agitation

"Uh, sir, are you alright?"

Sajin ignored the question and continued his hurried attempt to get through all of the paperwork that required his express attention. Lieutenant Iba watched his captain with a hint of concern and confusion. He obviously did not understand what had his captain so unsettled.

It had been two weeks since Sajin had been assigned to protect Lord Himura, and still he had not made any headway as to who this mysterious assassin could be. Though the wolf captain tried not to let it show, it irritated him to no end. It bothered him just as much that some of the other captains seemed irritated at _him_ when he told them there was nothing to report. They may have wondered if an assassin even existed. Honestly, Sajin was beginning to wonder himself.

It was true that there was nothing to report on the case, but Sajin had much to ponder about the people he had been living with. After learning that Hibiki and Amaya were brother and sister (twins, as he found out later), he began to pay closer attention to the both of them. Consequently he had learned that their similarities ended with their looks.

Hibiki was quiet, reserved, and completely apathetic. Sajin could imagine an explosion occurring under the young man's feet without eliciting more than a small, "Huh." He did his job well, without any emotion or enthusiasm or complaints. But it was unnerving, even for someone like Sajin, who had never exactly been exuberant himself.

Amaya was on the opposite end of the spectrum. In fact, she was on both opposite ends. For the rest of the day after their "official" introduction and Sajin's tour of the grounds, Amaya had been quiet and thoughtful. Sajin was amused to find that, if he took two steps toward her, she would take two away from him; if he took two steps away, though, she would take those two steps back. She kept the same distance between them for the entire trip. He also noticed her grey eyes watching him, looking away only if he tried to meet them with his own.

Just as he was beginning to get used to her aloofness, someone flipped an invisible switch on the woman. She suddenly became friendly and talkative. At one point Sajin was tempted to ask the woman if she was bipolar.

Sajin also noted with interest and a small bit of alarm that Amaya found herself asleep at the foot of his bed again that night. It was alarming because he again did not notice her presence until he awoke. He hoped it was because she lacked any true malignance toward him rather than her being beyond his detection.

The next night eased his worries. He opened his eyes the minute she opened his door; he feigned sleep, watching her as she carefully crept to the bed and fell asleep. Their little routine continued for the entire first week.

Amaya seemed to gradually relax around him, for which Sajin was grateful. She even seemed almost happy to see him when he returned from his first report back to the other captain. She spared him a smile which made his stomach flip strangely. The only thing that went through his head was, _She's beautiful when she lets herself smile._

The second week passed uneventfully excepting one incident, the thing that had Sajin agitated and ready to return. Two days before Sajin was due to leave the manor for his second report, something strange happened. He had just heard the change in Amaya's breathing that indicated she had fallen asleep. He had begun to drift off when there was a noise from outside his door.

Amaya was immediately awake; she lifted her head and stared at the door. Sajin leaned forward, putting himself in a position to grab his zanpaktou in an instant. His ears swiveled toward the noise.

Creaking footsteps made their way down the hall. _Something isn't right,_ Sajin thought. _Amaya is obviously terrified, but this can't be the assassin. No one on a mission to kill would be making this much noise. And besides that, Lord Himura's room is in the opposite direction._ Inwardly he growled.

The footsteps paused at the door, making Sajin's body tense in preparedness. Amaya sank down lower to the bed. This concerned Sajin the most. Of all the emotions he had seen go through the young woman in the past two weeks, fear had not been one of them. She practically exuded self-confidence and had a fair bit of spiritual pressure; she could fight her way out of a bad situation, even if it was just to get away.

After a brief pause, the footsteps finally moved away. Sajin relaxed and Amaya seemed to breathe again, though she was far from being relaxed. He waited. When a good amount of time had passed Sajin said lowly, "Do you want to explain that?"

Amaya nearly jumped off the bed when he spoke she was so startled. "No," she returned, surprising Sajin, but he did not push the subject. A moment later, however, she said quietly, "Some questions are better left unasked. After all, you cannot un-know something, no matter how much you wish you could."

Now, the hair at the back of Sajin's neck prickled just thinking about it. Amaya had been jumpy and quiet, and she had stared after him when he left. The expression in her eyes practically screamed, _Hurry._

_I have to know what that was about,_ he thought as he frantically scanned the reports before him. _Amaya would not talk to me before I left. Maybe that incident has something to do with whatever reason brings her to my room every night. _A horrible thought crossed his mind. _Is someone in the house trying to hurt her? But why? It makes no sense._

He growled at the thought. Iba looked at his captain again, but Sajin gave him a look to dispel any inquiry. It took two more agonizing hours before Sajin was finally ready to leave again. He took off, running when he could not use shunpo. He reached the gates of the manor it what had to be record time.

Amaya was there. She was clearly agitated and looked as if she had been pacing. The moment Sajin touched down, she came to him. Without preamble, she said in a voice filled with as much distress as Sajin currently felt, "We have a problem."

**AN: For once, the lateness was not my fault. Over a week ago I went to publish this and an error report popped up. I thought, ok, I'll try again tomorrow. And the cycle continued. Today it was gone and I nearly screamed for joy. So, here it is.**


	6. Surprise

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. *sigh***

Chapter 6: Surprise

Sajin rub the spot between his eyes. If he had thought he was agitated before…

Calmly, if only in outward appearance, he said, "Do you not care anything about your own safety, Lord Himura?"

The man in question sat there, looking calm and utterly smug. Sajin had the unexpected urge to hit him.

"Sajin," Izo said. Suddenly his voice sounded oily in Sajin's ears. The use of his given name from this man felt wrong. The lord sat on his throne-like chair. They were the only two in the room. _No witnesses,_ Sajin mused, but quickly pushed the thought away. Izo continued speaking as he stared with bored expression at the captain. "Forgive me, I should have asked if it was alright with you first. It is just that I feel so protected under your care, I had no worries about arranging this event. My wife is lonely here; I thought it would do to have some of our friends for dinner. You are, of course, invited to join us."

Every moment only increased Sajin's anger. Izo spoke in that smug, derogatory manner. As though he were bestowing some great honor on an undeserving insect. Sajin had never been so insulted. While he did not expect great bounds, his title (which he had earned through decades of hard work) afforded him more respect than this.

He no longer tried to mask his outrage. "You are putting your wife, your servants, your guests, and yourself at great risk. A party," he snarled the word, "would be a perfect opportunity for an assassin to sneak in, especially if he was hired or _is _one of your guests."

Izo laced his fingers together. "As I have said, my friend, I trust your protection implicitly. And, just maybe, this will be the perfect opportunity to catch whoever is responsible."

Sajin's eyes widened. It took all of his restraint not to bare his teeth at the man. "You would use your family and friends as bait to draw out an assassin?"

"Do I have reason to doubt your abilities to stop the man before anyone is harmed?" Sajin was being taunted. He was being played. When he said nothing, Izo continued. "Good. I am glad we have come to an agreement. The dinner will be this Friday night. Oh, I forgot to mention. That means that you will be unable to return to the Soul Society this week. I hope that is alright."

His tone made it clear that there was not choice in this matter if Sajin wanted to retain this job. Without saying another word, he left the room. _For that man's sake I should not run into him anytime soon. Though I am not sure anymore that he deserves the courtesy._

"Someone's pissed," Amaya commented when he found her waiting for him. She sat cross-legged on his bed. He offhandedly noted that this was the first time she had been in his room while they were both awake.

Sajin sat down on the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Is he really so ignorant of the danger he could be putting all of you in or does he just not care?"

Amaya thoughtfully pursed her lips in a way that Sajin secretly found adorable. "Probably he just doesn't care. The man may be a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them."

"Do you think he will change his mind?"

She made a face. "Not likely."

"In that case," Sajin said, getting down to business, "can you tell me whether or not any of the nobles have a grudge against Lord Himura or dislike him in any way?"

Amaya laughed. "How in the world I ever lumped you in with nobles I will never know. Sajin, nobles are like cliques of teenage girls. They all hate each other but pretend to be friends to each other's faces. It comes with the territory."

Sajin's ear twitched in annoyance at the concept. "Why do they bother?"

Amaya looked thoughtful. "I think they get amusement from trying to outdo each other. You know, who has the best stuff, the prettiest wife, the most well behaved children, the best poker face."

Sajin understood competition. He enjoyed sparring and having opportunity to test himself against a worthy opponent. Though he went about this in a much more controlled manner than someone like Kenpachi, Sajin could at least see some vague and demented sense behind the 11th squad captain's desire to fight. What these nobles were doing…

"It's just some sick game," he said aloud.

Amaya tilted her eyes to the ceiling as if talking to some unseen deity. "Finally, he gets it."

Sajin smiled. Finally he felt like his normal self again. He was almost even glad he had not given into his urge to murder the idiot of a lord. Almost.

"Why are you staying?" It was an unexpected question. Amaya's eyes bore into him.

"What do you mean?"

She gave an annoyed huff. "Sajin, you don't have to stay here. You can actually leave. So why don't you?"

He did not have to give the matter a second of thought. "It is the wish of the Head Captain that I protect Lord Himura, and that is what I will do." _Besides, _he added inwardly, _I believe I would miss you if I left._ The thought was trailed by another thought that he would be leaving eventually, but he pushed it away. It could wait.

Amaya opened her mouth but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She looked at Sajin with wide eyes. _Are you expecting someone?_ they silently asked. Sajin shook his head and opened the door to the last person he expected to see.

**AN: Please review. And sorry that my cliffhanger from last chapter was longer than I expected. I know I have said it before, but updates will come quicker now. Because *drumroll* calculus ends tomorrow! YAY! I am so happy I could scream! :D**


	7. Frozen Sun

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.**

Chapter 7: Frozen Sun

Lady Himura smiled detachedly at the captain. "Do you have a moment?" she said.

"Of course." Sajin tried to get her to go out into the hall. She ignored his silent urging and pushed her way into the room. He saw her golden eyebrows arch as she saw Amaya sitting on the bed. The two women did not acknowledge one another. "Did you need something, Lady Himura?" Sajin asked politely.

The woman turned back to face him. He noticed that even her eyes were a dark golden color. "Please, call me Takara. I wanted to speak with you about Izo's little gathering he has planned at the end of the week."

Sajin nodded. "He has just spoken to me about it himself. Is there some problem?"

"Yes." Takara narrowed her eyes. "What he is doing is foolish."

"I know. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant."

Takara held up her hand. "You don't understand. His intentions are not what he claims."

Behind her, Amaya narrowed her eyes. Sajin asked cautiously, "How so?"

The woman adjusted her elaborate gown and said, with an odd stir of emotion, "I was listening when you told my husband that such a party would draw out the assassin. And you see," she looked up plaintively, "that is just what my husband wants."

The day of the party, Sajin sat on the roof of the manor house. It was a practice one of his fellow captains implemented, seemingly to clear his head and relax. So far it was not working for the wolf captain.

"Are you alright?" He looked up and saw Amaya coming toward him. She was slightly unsteady on the sloping roof; Sajin resisted the urge to grab her and keep her from falling. She sat down beside him.

Mostly Sajin was angry at himself. When Takara had told him about Izo's plan, he had been angry enough to let his control of his reiatsu slip. It sometimes happened and usually only brought him a little shame. But he had seen the flicker of fear over Amaya's features.

"I'm sorry," he told her now.

She blinked up at him. "For what?" she asked him. When he said nothing, she hazarded a guess. "For releasing reiatsu when you got angry?" She snorted. "You have me beat on self control; I usually break things or insult innocent bystanders when I get angry."

The comment brought a smile to his face for a moment. It faded as he mentioned quietly, "But I frightened you."

"No." He looked at her. Her tone and expression were both firm. Then her eyes took on a distant look. "A lot of things scare me. I act as if they don't while inside I am sick with terror." She focused back on his face. "The only thing about you that scares me is that soon you are going to leave." She stood up and left him to wonder.

* * *

Amaya was surprised that she did not fall off the roof entirely. Her vision was blurry and her eyes burned. Worse than that, her chest ached. _What is wrong with me?_ she thought. She had not cried in… well, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had cried. Probably not since she wore diapers. To make matters worse, she was not even entirely sure why she was crying now.

"I'm just stressed," she said aloud. Her voice waivered and shook, so she tried again. "It is just stress. After this is all over—" She was going to say _everything would be back to normal,_ but her mind supplied something else. _After this is all over, Sajin will be gone. Which should not bother you,_ she reminded herself. She could not afford to be distracted. She had work to do.

Checking and double checking that no one would see her, Amaya took off at a full run. She paused quickly to check that no one would see her before she disappeared into a hidden gap in the walls around the manor.

* * *

Darkness fell around the manor. _This is my element. This is my night. I will take back what was stolen from me. I will take back my life._ The figure in black repeated these thoughts and watched the nobles enter the manor. The captain was inside. He was being cautious tonight and extra diligent. That made things…complicated. Comlicated, but not impossible.

"After all," the assassin whispered to no one but the wind and trees, "all you need is the right distraction."

**AN: A little shorter, but definitely my favorite chapter thus far. I will also note that, as I am sure you have figured out by now, I am switching views more. If you see a line, that means the views have switched. I might do that more often because, for whatever reason, I seem to be better at writing from Amaya's POV rather than Sajin's.**


	8. The Idiot Lord

**Disclamer: I do not own Bleach.**

Chapter 8: The Idiot Lord

The large dining hall of Lord Izo Himura's manor was full, not just of people, but of low chatter that buzzed in Sajin's ears like angry hornets and a thick smell of mixed perfumes that made his head spin.

"I am going to have a headache before the night is over," he commented to Amaya, who stood at his right side. "This is a terrible time to have overly-sensitive smell."

Amaya snorted. "This is a terrible time to have any sense of smell whatsoever. Maybe they were trying to drown themselves so they would not have to attend this party, ran out of water, and tried to use perfume instead."

Sajin started to smile, but caught one of the nobles, a short, bald man with squinty eyes, glaring at him, and stopped. "Is it just my imagination, or are all of these people particularly grouchy tonight?" He thought of Byakuya; the man was always frigid and conceited, but compared to Izo's guests would have appeared like a god of humility.

Amaya nudged him back a little further into the cache they had been standing in for the majority of the night. It was the perfect place to stand guard: they could watch everything without being in plain view, and their conversations were out of earshot of the guests.

"No, you're right," she said lowly. "Most of these people have been playing the aristocracy game for their entire lives. They've built up instincts for when something is not right, especially if it involves them being played."

It was still so strange to Sajin that these people were being so friendly and courteous when it was obvious that, for the most part, they all hated each other. He mentioned this to Amaya, who only shrugged and said, "You get used to it."

The night had been relatively quiet (at least as far as assassination attempts went). That bothered Sajin more than anything. Izo was handing himself over on a silver platter. A novice assassin would have jumped at the opportunity too quickly. Whoever this was was more cautious. Was more dangerous.

"Oh, thank the gods, it's almost over." Amaya rolled her shoulders and unconsciously leaned against Sajin for support. "These things are exhausting to watch. Just imagine if we actually had to participate." It may have been Sajin's imagination, but he thought she sounded sad.

He took a moment to scan the faces of the crowd once again. Izo sat at the head of the long banquet table. To his right was Lady Takara, and to his left, to Sajin's greatest surprise, sat Hibiki. When he had first noticed this, he had looked to Amaya for an explanation, but she had missed or avoided his questioning gaze. No matter how much he thought about that particular situation, he could not shake the feeling that it was somehow wrong.

Servants, directed by Gorou, bustled back and forth. Izo had hired them just for this night. _The idiot is not just inviting trouble into his house; he is paying it to be here. _

There was a crash and a shriek from the kitchen. This had happened several times throughout the night. The guests had all started with surprise, then laughed a bit uneasily when they discovered it was only a clumsy kitchen servant. This time they barely glanced away from their conversations. All except for Hibiki, Takara, and Amaya. They were frozen where they were, staring at the door that led to the kitchen.

"That was it," Amaya said with a panicked voice. Before Sajin could ask what exactly "it" was, Amaya moved away from him and toward the kitchen.

Everything happened very quickly after that, yet Sajin saw it as though in slow motion.

Izo, Hibiki, and Takara, as well as the immediately surrounding guests, were out of their chairs, similar looks of horror and surprise on all of their faces. Then Takara sunk to the ground, a crimson stain of blood spreading rapidly over her stomach. Someone shrieked and another shouted.

At that same moment one of the servants burst through the doors to the kitchen. She was dirty and frazzled and terrified. "Fire! Fire in the kitchen!" she screamed before running back. The door, before it closed behind her, belched out billows of black smoke that spread into the room and added to the confusion.

Several of the guests ran to their hostess, who lay still on the floor; several more hurried in the direction of the kitchen, presumably to help with the fire; the majority stayed where they were. One man, the bald one who had glared at Sajin for most of the night, ran for the main doors leading outside.

Sajin made a split-second decision. "You four," he pointed to Hibiki, a very ill looking Gorou, and two more servants, "stay with your Lady and protect her. You," he grabbed Izo by the arm tightly, "come with me." He then hurried toward the kitchen.

The kitchen was connected to the main house only by a narrow hallway. In the event of a major kitchen fire, it would take little effort to dismantle the long, thin hallway, thereby separating the two buildings and, hopefully, saving the manor. The kitchen itself was usually large, open, and pristine. The sight that met Sajin's eyes tonight was anything but.

One of the walls had a hole in it. Judging by the surrounding litter and the spread of the fire from that point, it had happened before the fire had broken out, or, more likely, was the cause. Sajin only spared a second to wonder how no one had heard an explosion before moving on. At least three people that he could see were unconscious (he hoped only unconscious) on the floor, dangerously close to the flames. More servants huddled in the corner, almost boxed in by flames. And there was Amaya, dirty and covered in soot, trying to get them to safety.

This was one of the few situations where Sajin wished he were more proficient with kido. A zanpaktou did little good in stopping flames, as did brute power. Besides, he could not leave the idiot lord unguarded.

As he watched, nearly helpless, flames surged up around Amaya and the servants.

* * *

This was one of those times when Amaya really hated servants. _Good god, people, run. You are going to burn to death either way; you should at least _try _to save yourselves._ But no. There they stood, watching their kitchen burn as though they were determined to go down with it.

She did not really blame these people, of course. They were afraid. Besides that, they were bred to be timid and just do their work without question, even if that meant burning alive for their masters. Being angry just gave her something to focus on other than the heat and smoke and burning, burning everywhere.

Their only option was to go straight through a wall of flames. It flared up suddenly, making one of the servants scream again and Amaya shield her eyes. "Listen to me all of you," she shouted over the roar of the fire, "I'm going to clear a path. All of you follow a quickly as possible. Do you understand?" They all hesitated, so she added venomously, "It's that or you burn to death!" after which they nodded.

_I officially have no idea what I am doing,_ she thought as she took off her top and started beating at the base of the flames. She knew this strategy had a million ways it could go wrong, but she was out of options and time. Her top was on fire in a matter of seconds, but she kept beating back the flames. Finally, when she was almost out of strength and fabric, a tiny window opened up in the flame wall. "Go now!" she shouted and just hoped they would listen.

They did. The servants ran through the opening and into the clearer part of the kitchen without incident she followed behind them. She vaguely noticed that her pants leg was on fire but refused to stop until she was outside. But before she could follow them out the door, something caught at the hem of her other side. She looked down and nearly screamed. One of the people lying on the floor was still alive. She had checked them for a pulse before helping the others and had thought they were dead. Apparently not.

"It's okay," she said soothingly. Well, as soothingly as she could while screaming over the fire. She lifted the man up and half-carried, half-dragged him to the door leading outside the other servants had just gone through. Only there was no door anymore, just fire. They were trapped.

**AN: I just realized how long it has been since I updated. But hey, that's life. Something always has to be put on the backburner or nothing would ever get done. Anywho, if anyone is still there, review and let me now how the chapter went.**


	9. Crushed

**Disclaimer: ...**

Chapter 9: Crushed

She braced herself for an impact that never came. Something tightened around her, there was a whooshing sort of feeling, and then, miraculously, the heat and noise were gone, replaced by the cool night air. She immediately started coughing and looking around.

"Sajin!" she managed to wheeze out when she saw him staring worriedly down at her. _Ah, the world makes sense again, _she thought as she sank to her knees.

* * *

"You will not move from this spot or I will kill you myself and save the world the trouble." Sajin barked the order at Izo before shupoing to the kitchen wall where Amaya was still trapped inside. Without wasting a moment, he punched through the wall. He had enough time to see her brace herself before taking her and the man she was supporting into his arms and shielding them from the crumbling debris of the kitchen. He only waited long enough for an opening before using shunpo to bring them back to where he had led Izo and the huddled servants.

He took the man from Amaya, who started coughing alarmingly. He noticed her confusion at being outside. Then she noticed him. Despite their situation, he could not help the feeling that rushed through him when she said his name. She sank down to her knees, but there was a grin on her face. It quickly disappeared when she looked down at her hands and noticed they were covered in blood.

"Oh, gods," he cursed. If she was coughing up blood… But he did not have time to finish the thought.

* * *

It satisfied the assassin immensely that Izo screamed when he was attacked. His terror was sweeter perhaps even then sinking a knife into his heart would have been. But that was not this killer's objective tonight. One solid punch sent the lord sprawling onto his back, unconscious and vulnerable as a newborn. The assassin zipped around his body.

Another source of satisfaction came from the Captain's confused expression. He obviously did not understand why this man would leave Izo alive when he could have killed him so easily. _Good, _he thought_. Your confusion is my greatest ally._ The Captain put himself protectively between the lord and the assassin. _Leaving my target completely unguarded._

* * *

Amaya saw the assassin coming at her, blade drawn, but could do nothing about it. Her legs ignored her command to move, and she still could not stop coughing or catch her breath. All she could do was look at the horrified expression on Sajin's face as he realized he was not going to be fast enough to save her.

* * *

Something snapped inside of Sajin the moment he met Amaya's eyes. He would not lose her. He refused to lose her like this. Faster than he knew he was capable, he was in front of Amaya, ramming his blade upward into the assassin.

* * *

Amaya did not know how it had happened. In one instant, she was certain she was going to die, was practically dead where she sat. In the next, the assassin was lying on the ground, dead. Least of all did she understand why she was still so terrified.

She did not want to look at the body, so instead she shifted her gaze to Sajin's back, the bold seven emblazoned on the white captain's haori. He was breathing heavily, not in a tired way, but as though he were taking in a great shock. That, at least, she could understand. A moment later he seemed to shake himself of it and shouted something to the servants, who did not hesitate to do whatever it was he had commanded. _They're afraid of him,_ she realized with a start.

That was something she could never understand. As he kneeled down in front of her, the look in his eyes was so worried and kind and maybe even a little afraid, she could not understand how anyone could ever be afraid of such a man. He reached out his hand and stroked her cheek with the barest of touches, trying to convey something to her. In that moment she wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them. Instead she watched as he stood up and walked away to clean up the mess, to be replaced by a group of servants.

* * *

_Later…_

It took hours to clean up the destruction left behind by the assassin. Many people were injured, whether it be from the fire or trying to get away. Only three people were killed, but Sajin counted each as a personal failure and knew they would haunt him when he slept later.

From what he could gather, one of the servants, the one who kept making a racket in the kitchen, was working with the assassin to create a distraction, i.e. the fire. During the chaos Lady Takara was injured, as another part of the distraction, most likely using a precise, long-range kido attack. The assassin was counting on Izo coming outside or being able to get inside himself to attack.

_No,_ Sajin reminded himself, _the assassin went after Amaya. Was he after her all along, or did the assassin mistake her for Takara in the darkness? But that would have been such an obvious mistake, and whoever this was had obviously been planning._

He wanted to ask Amaya if she knew why someone would be after her but had not yet had the opportunity to speak with her. She helped with the clean-up despite his protests. Whenever he saw her, it was obvious she was just as deep in thought as he was. _Will she know why someone came after her? Maybe she suspected and that is why she has stayed so close to me all this time._ The very thought that this could be true hurt him.

Now, the cleanup was done. All that was left for Sajin to do was clean himself up and get to bed. He had sent a message to the Soul Society, and they had sent him four unseated members of his squad who could help him stand guard. He felt a fool for not asking for help sooner.

He was only partly surprised to find his bathroom already occupied when he got there. Amaya sat over the sink wrapped in a towel, her long black hair dripping onto the floor. Sajin could not see what she was doing, but he did hear her curse quite emphatically when something clattered into the sink. He cleared his throat noisily to let her know he was there.

Amaya looked back over her shoulder at him, her grey eyes stormier than usual. "Hi."

"Hi. What are you doing?" he asked. She hesitated just long enough to worry him. He walked over to the sink and gaped. Blood spattered the white tiles of the sink and floor and bathtub. It was coming from Amaya's hands. They were horribly burned to the point that they had formed large blisters. Sajin guessed that all the work she had just been doing had burst some of them, thus all the blood.

Amaya grimaced. "Looks pretty bad, huh?" She had been trying to clean and bandage them when he had walked in.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sajin took her hands gently in his. She tensed and let out a low hiss but otherwise did not complain. He had his answer right there. "I am going to clean and wrap them. No arguments."

"Who said I was going to argue? I wasn't having much luck on my own. But afterwards you are going to let me look at that cut on your back."

Sajin looked up at her briefly. "What cut?"

He did not see her roll her eyes. "The one you got when you rushed into a burning building to save me." She said this quietly and in a tone Sajin had never heard used when concerning himself. "Which, by the way, I am never going to be able to properly thank you for."

Sajin spread ointment on her burns. He tried to be gentle, and she only flinched a little. "You don't need to thank me," he told her in a tone matching the one she had used. "I think it would have killed me if anything had happened to you." He suddenly became very absorbed in his work so he would not have to look at her. That was the closest he had ever come to telling her how he was starting to feel about her.

After wrapping her hands and making sure she sat down for a while, he took a much-needed bath himself. It was nice to wash away the smoke and events of the day. The burning in his back when he sank into the water told him that Amaya was correct about the cut.

While he was drying off, Amaya called from outside the door, "Are you decent?" She did not wait for an answer before flinging the door open and barging in, much to Sajin's embarrassment. Luckily, he had a towel wrapped around his lower half. He resisted the urge to fidget while Amaya stared at him. _I should not be surprised that she is put-off by the sight of me. _To cover his shame, he entered the bedroom and sat on the bed.

* * *

Amaya knew she was staring but could not stop herself. _This man is friggin' _hot._ I mean, damn._ She sat behind him on the bed and started tending to his would. She could not help but notice how tense he was as she cleaned the cut, so she started talking. Or babbling, really. "It really isn't that bad. It's diagonal across your shoulder blades, in case you want to know. It probably won't leave a scar. It might sting a little when I put the ointment on, but… Oh, wow." Her eyes got really wide and she stopped moving.

* * *

"What?" Sajin tensed up more than ever. His heart was pounding in his chest. This was the first time anyone had ever seen so much of him. He felt so…exposed. The fact that it was a woman he wanted more than anything to like him did not help him to relax. Her pause made him even jumpy. Had she finally decided to be repulsed? Why all of a sudden… _Oh, no. She saw it._ Now his heart pounded out his dread. "Amaya…" he said, silently pleading her not to run away screaming.

* * *

She did not really know why she had never thought of it before. She wanted to laugh, but at the same time did not want Sajin to think she was laughing at him. She was just laughing at her own obliviousness, maybe. Or maybe this was just so absurd after such a long day. So, instead of laughing (bad) or being silent (good), she just did was she usually did (blurt): "You have a tail."

* * *

Sajin didn't say anything. _Okay, she isn't running or screaming. She might be laughing, but it's hard to tell. _He stayed perfectly still. He jumped when Amaya put her hands on his shoulders.

* * *

Amaya had no idea what she was doing, how she got from cleaning Sajin's wound to massaging his shoulders. He had just looked so tense, and she wanted him to know the tail didn't bother her (which was something she thought he might worry about). So she was determined to help him relax. At first he tensed up even further, making Amaya worry she had made a mistake, but after a second he relaxed, making her smile. She deepened the massage.

* * *

Sajin let out a noise between a sigh and a growl. No one had ever touched him like this, and he was in heaven. His muscles relaxed, and a deep heat came over his body starting where Amaya touched him. "Remember how you said you wanted to thank me?" he asked throatily. Amaya hummed an affirmative. "This works." He sank down onto the bed until he was lying on his belly. Amaya repositioned herself over him. Sajin had one fleeting spark of a wild desire when he realized she was straddling his back, but the feeling was pushed down under the pleasure of her hands.

Eventually Amaya stopped, applied ointment and a bandage to the wound, and turned out the lights. By that point Sajin was practically purring. He was too tired to move, too relaxed to want to, so he let himself drift off where he was, but not before he noticed that Amaya did not sleep in her usual spot at the foot of his bed.

* * *

It was an unfortunate miscommunication earlier in the day meant that no one was sure who was supposed to remove the assassin's body from the grounds, and therefore no one noticed that it disappeared on its own.

**AN: Bum-bum-bum! Yay! I am catching up again! There were a lot of POV changes, but I think they were easy to follow. Reviews make me happy! :3**


	10. Awwkwward

Chapter 10: Awwkwwaard…

The sun poured in from the windows, waking Amaya from a deep sleep. She knew it was later than she should still be in bed, but she was so comfortable that she just could not bring herself to get up, choosing instead to snuggle deeper into the covers. The only thing that disrupted her comfort was something scratchy around her legs. She reached down and pulled away…a towel? _What…_

Images from the day before flooded back to her. The fire. The assassin. _Sajin._ Half-naked, massaging. Her eye twitched. That would explain the comfortable feeling she had. She was curled up with her chest pressed against something warm, solid, and furry. And, judging by the towel she had just pulled away, naked.

For a moment she just sat there, blinking and wondering how she had ended up in such a situation without even smelling anything vaguely alcoholic the night before. Then, shrugging it all off, she snuggled back into the wolf-captain's chest and went back to sleep.

* * *

The only way for Sajin to describe how he was feeling when he awoke was to equate it to pushing through cobwebs in his brain. It was a pleasant feeling, though, the kind that comes from just waking up from a deep and restful sleep. He was lying on his side, his arms stretched out in front of him. Except they were not just stretched out. They were wrapped around something. Something warm and soft that smelled like an autumn night…

Upon opening his eyes, he froze. Amaya was lying in his arms. Not only that, but her back was pressed against him, where he unconsciously had been holding her tightly. _How the hell did this happen?_ Not that he was complaining, obviously, but he still wondered. He thought back over the previous day's events. Which led him to remember the cut on his back, the massage, and, finally, drifting off to sleep with Amaya, not in her usual place, but curled up against his side. _Though when I fell asleep I was not wrapped around her. That must have happened later. Completely unconsciously on my part. _Yeah, that was a good defense. He could imagine himself explaining this one to Amaya when she woke up.

Speak of the devil, Amaya stirred at that moment. That was when Sajin noticed something alarming. _Oh, dear god, am I naked?_

* * *

For the second time Amaya woke up. Somehow she knew that Sajin was awake this time as well, maybe from his rapid heartbeat that she could feel at her back. _Oh, well,_ she thought, _no point in delaying the inevitable. Maybe we can make it a bit less awkward._

Without any plan on how to do so, she rolled over so she was facing Sajin. He had relaxed his hold on her when he felt her wake up, so now she was a little distance from him, though his arms were still around her. Somehow she did not mind.

She did find it interesting to note the expression on his face. It was apologetic, afraid, bold, and unrepentant all at once. _He was enjoying this, too, until he started feeling bad about it._ "Good morning. How's your back?"

This seemed to surprise him. "Fine…" he replied uncertainly.

"If you are wondering why you're naked, it's because I pulled your towel off." They both blushed. _Amaya, sweetie, we were going for less awkward._ "Um, well, you know, not on purpose. And I'm wearing clothes, so it doesn't really matter anyway. Nothing that you rubbing up on me naked would have necessarily bothered me—" _Wait, did I just say that out loud?_ Judging by the look on Sajin's face, she had. She sat up before thinking about the covers, which were pulled up when she did. Sajin noticed a second before she did and tried to cover himself back up.

Too late. Amaya shrieked (actually shrieked, which she had never done before) and covered her eyes. Her face was burning and she guessed was blood red. She wanted nothing more than to go drown herself in the bathtub. _This cannot get worse._

* * *

_This cannot get worse,_ Sajin thought. Those seemed to be the magic words, because right then it did. Footsteps echoed down the hall before two of his squad members burst into the room. "We heard a scream—" one began before stopping, open-mouthed.

Sajin looked at Amaya. She took a deep breath, then leveled a death glare on the two men. "Out. Now." He was not surprised when they obeyed.

He wanted to say something but was at a loss for words. Amaya turned to look at him with a serious expression on her face. _Here it comes, _he thought with a pit in his stomach.

"This was nice," Amaya said in a tone that would make the Head Captain proud with its seriousness. "We should do it again sometime."

They just stared at each other for a second before they both burst out laughing. Amaya fell back on the bed next to Sajin, holding her side and wiping tears from her eyes. Before they got up to belatedly start their day, they both had the same thought: _I would like that._

**AN: Just a light and fluffy chapter before it gets really heavy. I could not resist... :D**


	11. When It All Goes to Hell

Chapter 11: When It All Goes to Hell

"What do you mean you can't find the body?"

The squad member, a young man with brown hair and currently frightened eyes, looked to his companion for support. "The body was obviously moved, but all of the servants claim they have no idea who, and the lord Himura just wants nothing to do with us. Forgive us, sir."

Sajin rubbed the spot between his eyes. He felt more incompetent now than he did during his first days as a new captain. He must seem the ultimate fool to his squad members and Izo's people as well. How had this situation gone so wrong?

He had been so certain after the previous night that his duties here had ended with the death of the assassin. But this morning, yet another hitch in his job had arisen. Izo had awoken to find the assassin's mask on his window sill. Sajin could only guess what it meant.

"Perhaps it is a sign of surrender," Izo had suggested. His arrogance had lost none of its potency. Sajin again was overcome with the urge to hit the man.

Now, Sajin made his way to the lord's bedchambers. He was hoping he might detect some traces of reiatsu of whoever had left the mask. It was a slim chance, especially considering this was not his forte, but he had nothing else to go on. He paused to knock on the door, stopping when he heard voices.

"…could help." This was Amaya. _How strange, _Sajin thought before pushing the thought away.

Someone laughed bitterly. It was Lady Takara. That should have made sense, considering it was her room, but somehow it struck Sajin as even stranger than Amaya being there. She said, "Help? I have been on my own for a long time now. I do not want any help from you."

"Takara—"

"No!" Takara shrieked, causing Sajin to jump. He had never heard the woman express so much emotion.

Amaya's voice when she answered was stiff. "Fine. But you know I tried."

_Tried what?_ Sajin thought as he hurried down the hall toward another of the rooms that made up the lord's chambers. When he was out of sight he turned back and saw Amaya hurry from the room. She looked much the way she had when he had first met her: detached, cold, and just a bit sad.

Sajin did not see Amaya again until later. He had the mask in his hands and was trying to pick something up from it without any success. The only thing he could tell was that the person using it had been performing very powerful kido that had left residue on the mask. Other than that he still had no clue.

"What is that?" Amaya asked as she sat down beside him. They were on the porch, protected from the sun but still able to feel the cool breeze that was sweeping over the land.

He held the mask out to her. He had been studying it all morning and could have described it in each minute detail: from a distance it had appeared black, but, upon closer inspection, was covered in intricate silver designs of stars and a crescent moon amid filigree patterns and swirls. It was beautiful, purely decorative or ceremonial perhaps. Sajin thought it was a shame that someone had used it to hide themselves during assassination attempts.

The change that came over Amaya when she touched the mask was dramatic. She looked like someone had stabbed her in the back. Her shoulders dropped forward, and if she had not already been sitting she might have fallen over. She held the mask in her left hand, and her right hand slowly came up to cover her mouth. Sajin thought he saw tears in her eyes.

Sajin reached out and touched her arm, silently asking if she was alright. Amaya shook her head slowly back and forth at him. She closed her eyes. "Are you finished with this?" she asked quietly after a moment.

Something about this struck Sajin as very wrong. Amaya knew who the mask belonged to. That much was obvious. But she had looked so hurt and betrayed; it must have come as a shock. She couldn't have known before this moment. And Sajin was sure whoever it was that had attacked last night was dead. "You can take," he finally decided. He needed to ask her what she knew. What he asked instead was "What were you and Lady Takara talking about earlier?"

"You heard that? I was offering to help her dress her wound from last night, but she refused…" She trailed off with that same odd expression on her face. Sajin could tell she was trying to put something together.

"Amaya," he said gravely, "if you know anything about what's going on here, you need to let me know."

She didn't reply for a long time. Then, with a sudden burst, she stood up, said, "I need to take care of something," and ran off, disappearing around the corner. Sajin was worried now. Worried that Amaya might be the target, worried her was missing something important, worried that Amaya was hiding something. However he looked at it, all of his worry came back to Amaya.

* * *

Just when Sajin thought things could not possibly get any worse, they did just that. Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, flanked by four of his officers, arrived just as the sun was setting. He came with orders to help investigate the matter of the missing assassin. Apparently Izo had sent a message to the Soul Society asking for more assistance. Sajin was going to kill that man.

The moon rose full overhead, bathing the two captains in light. Sajin was humiliated that it had come to this yet grateful to get a second opinion, especially from someone who understood nobles better than he did. Sajin explained everything, with interruptions from Izo, of course, and began to lead Byakuya into the house. Before they reached the door, Hibiki burst out, looking around him wildly for something.

"Hibiki!" Izo shouting in an angry tone. Then all hell broke loose.

Hibiki had put himself in front of Izo and, behind him, Takara, who Sajin had not even noticed came outside. Almost instantly he was on the ground, having been tackled by a figure dressed all in black, except for one spot at its chest where Sajin's blade had sliced through it. The assassin. But that was impossible. The next thing Sajin knew, Izo, Takara, and Hibiki were on the ground, all three covered in blood. The assassin started to run.

Byakuya sprang into action (in his calm, Kuchiki-mannered way, of course). He was close behind the assassin in a second, even as the dark form disappeared through a hidden gap in the wall surrounding the manor. In the moment they disappeared, the assassin turned toward Sajin with a tilt of the head that could have been a smile or an apology, letting him catch sight of a black mask decorated with tiny silver stars and a crescent moon.

**AN: I must warn you now, the next chapter might be a little rough, as in extra angsty and/or slightly disturbing. We'll see. And, if it doesn't fit on this chapter, it wouldn't fit on any of them: _To Be Continued... _:D (I grin because writing makes me happy) :D**


	12. A Cry in the Night

**Disclaimer: I disclaim owning Bleach.**

Chapter 12: A Cry in the Night

_It is the decision of the newly re-formed Central 46 that Amaya Mochizuki spend three days in the repentance cell, after which period she will be put to death._

All day the words had echoed through her head. _Put to death._ For crimes of murder of a lord. They would never really understand…

* * *

Kaname's betrayal had been nothing compared to this. Sajin kept hoping someone would burst through the door and tell him the whole thing was a mistake. Even though he knew this was impossible, he kept hoping.

Though it was expressly forbidden, he had to see Amaya. He needed to know. She did not look up when he entered the repentance cell and sent away the guards. She looked awful, with deep shadows under her eyes and her overall appearance disheveled. Sajin couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful despite that. Amaya only had one injury that Sajin could see, a bruise on her wrist. She had barely put up a fight when Captain Kuchiki caught up to her, and she had not fought at all when they brought her here.

Steeling himself against whatever she might, or might not, say, Sajin lowered himself to the ground in front of her. "Amaya," he called softly when she still refused to look at him. He reached out to turn her face toward him. At the contact she jerked back, as if surprised to find someone so close to her. "Amaya," he repeated, "I need for you to explain what happened." _Tell me this is all some misunderstanding._

She blinked sadly at him. "You saw what happened."

Sajin's throat closed in around itself. "Why?"

"Because he deserved to die."

"But how? You were with me when the attack started." He sounded uncertain even to himself.

Amaya sighed, a deep, bone-tired sound. She stared blankly at a wall while she told him, "I was using a kido puppet. That way I was able to control its actions while still maintaining my mask of innocence. The puppet was able to take human form and center itself around the mask, which is why you found kido residue there. When I found out Izo had summoned another captain, I knew I was out of time. So I went after him myself."

The sick feeling in Sajin's stomach grew. He did not want to ask his next question, but found the words spilling from his mouth anyway. "All of the time you spent with me was just another way to build up your mask of innocence then, wasn't it?"

Amaya continued to stare down the wall. Then in a detached, apathetic voice, she said, "Yes."

Sajin stood up. He felt…actually, he could not describe how he was feeling. All he could think was _I should have known. _"Goodbye, Amaya."

Somehow he made it back to his division. The world felt foggy. He had been blinded to what Amaya was doing by his own stupidity. _I should have known._ He had wanted to believe that she was his friend, was becoming something more. _I should have known._ He had been blinded by her stormy eyes, her black hair and fair skin, her beautiful and injured soul. He had been thinking what it would be like to spend the rest of his existence with her by his side. _I should have known._ He had fallen in love with her, and that had been exactly the distraction she had needed.

For a while he closed himself off in his room, but could not stand the closed space for long. He then found himself in the division training grounds. It took only a few moments before everyone had cleared out in search of safer venues, leaving him with his thoughts. Sajin was not one for outbursts, but something inside of him had just been broken in a way that was irreparable. Criminal or no, there would never be another Amaya. She was it for Sajin. And she was lost to him.

With a violent swing his zanpaktou flew from his grasp. He made no move to retrieve it. He fell to his knees, tilted back his head, and let out a heartbroken howl for the world to hear.

* * *

In her cell, Amaya heard that cry, and it twisted the knife already buried deep in her chest. She stared out of the tiny window, the moonlight pouring over her, making the tears running down her face sparkle like shattered glass.

* * *

Everyone gave Sajin a wide breadth of space for the next three days. No doubt they had heard him…shouting, screaming, howling, whatever the mournful sound he had made was called. You would have thought he was contagious. But at this point he could not have cared less. He was thankful for Iba, who continued to keep the division running as he had in his captain's absence, leaving Sajin to his own devices. For the first time in his life he considered drowning his sorrows in alcohol, but decided against it. There would be time to become a drunk after…_after Amaya is dead._ The thought snuck into his mind more frequently with each passing hour and always brought with it a fresh wave of agony.

He did not try to see Amaya again, but he overheard two division members talking about her.

"They say she won't touch any food they give her and will barely drink anything," the man, whom Sajin recognized as one of the Amaya's guards, said.

The woman he was speaking to looked scornful. "Maybe what she did has sunk in and she realizes she deserves to suffer for it."

The man shrugged. "She also refuses to speak to anyone. She sits at the same window, looking out over the Seireitei all day and night. I think she is even refusing to sleep."

They actually laughed. Sajin was about to walk away, worried he would forget himself and kill these two for their inhumanity, when the man spoke again in a whisper Sajin would not have even heard if not for his sensitive ears.

"The other night, when Captain Komamura…" He trailed off. The woman nodded, picking up on the reference and urging the man to continue. "Well, I wasn't on duty that night, but the others told me she cried the whole night."

Sajin thought about the conversation between the man and the woman all night and into the morning. The morning of Amaya's execution. Sajin got an odd sense of déjà vu, though he was sure this time that no one was coming to rescue this prisoner. _Was she crying because she is going to die, or is there something else?_

* * *

This was it. The captain's, lieutenants, and other various members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were gathered to watch her, a common criminal in their eyes, die. Die, die, die. Amaya made sure her eyes did not fall on Sajin. She couldn't bear to look at him, not knowing what she might see there. Not after what she had done.

Because the Sokyoku had been destroyed, the Kido Corps had devised a new execution device. Amaya did not want to think about the particulars, but it promised to be gruesome for her. As with the Sokyoku, she would die in flames. She closed her eyes against the light.

For one brief moment, she thought she heard someone calling her name. She looked up and her eyes instinctively found Sajin in the crowd. He was staring back at her. She could tell by his eyes how badly she had hurt him. _I'm so sorry, Sajin,_ she conveyed silently, hoping he could still read her eyes. _I am so incredibly sorry._

* * *

The roaring grew in Sajin's ears. Was it the flames or the pounding of his heart? The way Amaya had looked at him was an apology. But for what? Not for killing Izo, that much was clear. There was something else. _What am I missing?_ Amaya always seemed afraid of something, was always looking over her shoulder. Was she just protecting herself by killing Izo? She always slept in Sajin's room. She had been with him every night. _Why? Was it all just a part of a distraction?_ And, the thing that had been bothering him more than anything, why would she risk her life, burn her hands, to save a man if she was willing to kill Izo's guards?

He had no more time to think. The flames took on the shape of a giant snake. Its body surrounded Amaya as it drew back its flaming head, preparing to strike. Amaya closed her eyes as the snake struck.

The whooshing noise had reached a crescendo in Sajin's ears, so loud and painful that he almost did not notice when the noise turned into screaming.

**AN: Have you ever looked at a word for so long that it stops looking like a word? And then you have to look at it even longer while you try to figure out if it is real or just something you made up in your own head? I seem to be doing that a lot lately...**


	13. A Plot Revealed

Chapter 13: A Plot Revealed

Everyone stared in shock at the screaming woman who had appeared out of nowhere and the man who stood beside her. Everyone, that is, except for Sajin.

"Stop the execution!" he shouted to the bewildered members of the Kido Corps controlling the snake. At the same moment he rushed forward and grabbed Amaya. If Sajin needed further proof that something was amiss, he got it now. Amaya, who had been quiet and cooperative as they tied her down to be executed, was now fighting violently against the man who had saved her from that execution.

For a moment he thought he was going to be unable to protect her. The kido snake followed its captive, its blue-flame eyes angry slits. Sajin was sure it would have attacked again had the Kido Corps members not finally caught on and disrupted the kido. The snake vanished.

"What are you doing?" Amaya said in a voice that was part outrage, part guilty relief, and part something else.

"Saving you," Sajin replied easily. Everyone was staring at them, so he raised his voice for all to hear. "If you aren't going to tell us what really happened, maybe they will."

Amaya turned in his arms. Sajin felt more than saw her reactions. First she stiffened with surprise, then went a little unsteady, and, finally, most frightening of all, began shaking with anger.

"Sajin," she said in that deadly calm voice people used when they were too angry to even _be_ angry, "let me go."

Sajin just tightened his grip. "Not likely."

"Sajin, let me go." Her voice was frantic and she started to struggle again.

Somehow this only served to make Sajin happier. _Of course it does. She's fighting. She's _alive. The man and the woman were approaching quickly. Amaya whimpered and gave one last jerk before sagging completely in Sajin's grip.

"You have no right to be here. This is my execution, and the last thing I need is you two crashing it. So shoo." Amaya may have been barely standing, but there was venom in her voice.

"Who the hell are these two?" Captain Zaraki asked as nonchalantly as he might ask what day it is.

The people in question stopped in front of Sajin and Amaya. The man, slightly out of breath, said, "My name is Hibiki Mochizuki. I am Amaya's brother." A few surprised whispers went through the crowd. "This is Takara Himura." More whispers, more surprise. "She was Izo Himura's wife. She is also Amaya's and my younger sister."

This was news to Sajin. Takara held no resemblance to Amaya or Hibiki. Before Sajin could ponder it further, Takara spoke up.

"And we are the ones who killed Izo."

"No!" Amaya started trashing again in Sajin's arms amid the flurry of shocked muttering. "You two idiots! You will not take the blame for this. It was my doing, and no one else's!"

"Amaya, it's okay," Hibiki said. "It's not your job to protect us anymore."

The head captain came forward. "Speak," was all he said.

Hibiki swallowed nervously before beginning. "Amaya, Takara, and I were born into a wealthy noble family on the outskirts of the first district. When we were still very young, our parents died. That was when Izo Himura stepped in. He had been my father's steward for many years. He—he took control of the family estate. He forced Amaya and I into his service, and force Takara into his bed." He choked suddenly.

Takara picked up where her brother paused, though she did so with none of the emotion he had shown. "Amaya tried to protect us, but whenever she got close to revealing Izo's secret or threatened him in any way, something terrible would happen." She looked ashamed and refused to elaborate on what "something terrible" meant. Sajin shuddered to think.

Hibiki picked the conversation back up. "Takara hated the man, as did I. It was clear Izo was more focused on Amaya and did not see us as a threat. That was when we began planning."

"We killed off all of his guards," Takara explained, "who were loyal to Izo. That was when he called on the Thirteen Court Guard Squads for help." For the first time she looked at Amaya, and the rest of her explanation came out as an apology. "We noticed when our sister and the captain started to get close, and we used that to our advantage. On the night of the party, which I convinced Izo to throw, we paid one of the servants to set a fire in the kitchen. At that time, Hibiki shot me with kido so that everyone would panic. Amaya had gone into the kitchen to help; she never knew about any of this."

"So when Captain Komamura took Izo to the kitchen, I slipped out amid the other guests," Hibiki said. "Most people were either running or looking after Takara. I used a mask-based kido puppet I bought from a woman in one of the lower districts to go after Izo. But Captain Komamura was in the way, and we knew he was already suspicious. So I made the puppet go after Amaya. He stopped it and thought it was dead. In the confusion, no one noticed when the puppet disappeared."

"The next day," Takara continued, "Izo told me that he had sent for more help from you shinigami. We knew it was our last chance. But then the captain told Amaya about the mask, and then she knew what we were planning. She knew there was no way we could get away without being caught. So she put on the mask and attacked when your second captain got there. But I was the one who stabbed Izo. While everyone else was focused on Amaya, I killed him."

"The only regret we have is that Amaya almost died to protect us."

The head captain nodded gravely. Four division members surrounded the siblings, taking them away to be questioned further. "If what you say is true, then your sister will be free to go. But the two of you will be punished in her stead. Do you understand?" Takara and Hibiki both nodded as they disappeared from view.

Sajin felt Amaya's body go slack as she collapsed in his arms.

**AN: Eh... This chapter is not exactly what I wanted it to be, but it is close enough. Reviews, please. And thanks, by the way, for everyone who has reviewed thus far. :)**


	14. And the Mask Falls Off

**Warning: This chapter contains very adult themes (borderline M material). That said, it also contains information vital to this story. So.**

Chapter 14: And the Mask Falls Off

Amaya woke up to the sound of her own sobs. The room was dark, lit only by a low-burning lamp that threw everything into shadow. For a moment she thought she was still in the repentance cell, that the previous day had been a long nightmare. But then she noticed she was lying on a bed, and someone was clutching her hand.

"I'm glad you are finally awake," Sajin said softly. "Captain Unohana said you stressed your body out. You were already dehydrated and malnourished, so it did not take much. You had me worried." He made a move to touch her face, but stopped himself at the last moment. Amaya wished he hadn't.

She cleared her throat, which felt raw. Sajin handed her a glass of water from the bedside table, which she accepted gladly. When she had emptied it, she asked in a raspy voice, "Takara and Hibiki?"

She could tell he did not want to tell her, and that alone told her enough. She bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. Sajin let go of her hand to rub his eyes, and she immediately missed the contact. She wondered how long it had been since he had slept.

Sajin leaned back in his chair and started speaking. "When you passed out, you were taken to the Fourth. The head captain had heard enough that he was convinced of your innocence already, but the story was presented to the Central 46. They agreed and sentenced your brother and sister to death." Amaya winced, but Sajin kept going. "apparently, no one bothered to search them very well. The moment they were certain you would not be punished further, they took their lives."

"How?"

"Concealed poison." He paused to give Amaya a moment to collect herself.

She did not want to collect herself though. She wanted it to have never happened. "Where are we? This doesn't look like a hospital."

"That's because it isn't." She waited for him to elaborate, but he changed the subject instead. "Why were you going to die for them? You had no part in their plan."

She shrugged. "They were my brother and sister."

Sajin shook his head. "There is more to it than that." He smiled a little. "There is always more to it when it comes to you."

Despite herself she blushed. When her smile had faded and she realized Sajin was still waiting for an explanation, she said, "Our parents did not just die. Izo murdered them. They were at a masked ball at one of their friends' manors. Takara would have been too little to remember it exactly, but Hibiki would have known. That would have been why he got that woman to attach the kido puppet to a mask rather than some other object. Izo must have thought it was me for sure then. Of course, the need to be rid of Izo went far beyond just him killing our parents. You know he forced Takara to marry him, but before she was old enough, he raped her repeatedly. The year before their marriage, he pretended to be all nice and stopped raping her. He came after me."

* * *

Sajin had to fight down a wave of nausea. He had known there was something wrong with Izo, but he never would have suspected this. The thought that he had hurt Amaya, had forced himself on her… Sajin clenched his fists and took a deep breath to steady himself, but failed. "Oh, gods," he whispered, "Amaya, I am so sorry."

"You need to hear the rest." Sajin was positive he did not want to but let her continue. "Izo came after me in the middle of the night. He announced that Takara had agreed to marry him, but he wanted their first night as a married couple to be special." Her voice was dripping with hatred. "He was not going to touch her for an entire year. But that left him with…urges. He was close to me, and he pressed himself up against me. I could feel his erection through his pants."

Sajin shut his eyes as if by doing so he could somehow take back what had happened to Amaya. He wanted to tell her to stop, as much for his sake as for hers, but found he couldn't speak.

"He pushed me down onto my knees and held my head in place. So I was forced to do it. I bit the living shit out of that bastard." Sajin wanted to laugh with relief, but knew by the look on Amaya's face that that would have been a mistake. "He never touched me again, which was great for me. But, after slapping me around for a while, he told me as he left the room that I would regret doing that. He was right, because a few minutes later he dragged Hibiki into the room and raped him in front of me. Hibiki cried and screamed. He thrashed around, trying to get away, but Izo only enjoyed that more. He took his time, and when he finally left, he told us that if either of us tried anything he would kill Takara. I couldn't even get off the floor to comfort Hibiki afterwards. All we could do was lay there and cry and pray Izo didn't come back."

"But he did," Sajin supplied when she paused.

Amaya nodded. "He did. Every night for the next month he came for Hibiki while I had to sit there and watch. He stopped for a while, and we hoped it was over. He and Takara were actually…not getting along exactly, but they were acting normal. It was easier for us to pretend we were just a family getting ready for a wedding. But a few weeks later they got into a fight. Izo had two of his guards hold me back while he beat Takara until she didn't try to get away anymore. The he took Hibiki right there in front of all of us, guards and servants included. No one did a thing to stop it. That was when we moved to Izo's manor. All of the servants were given a good sum of money to keep quiet. They couldn't afford to lose their jobs anyway. Then Izo was free to do as he pleased. After he and Takara were married, he still came to Hibiki's room. The worst times were when Hibiki would just walk by him during the day and Izo would just take him. I never slept in the same place twice so he could never come after me again. We had all sort of…given up."

Sajin remembered one of the first nights Amaya had stayed in his room at the manor, how he had heard footsteps in the hallway and seen how terrified Amaya was. He mentioned this to her.

"Izo wouldn't try anything while you were around. Hibiki told me he hated the thought of you leaving because then it would start all over again." There was a deep but not awkward silence before she added, "I knew they were going to kill themselves. Takara said she was just tired of fighting, and Hibiki was broken beyond repair. They both thought death would be a relief from their memories."

Sajin wanted to comfort her, to touch her, but following Hibiki's story it felt wrong, even if it was innocent and well-intentioned. "I have to tell you," he said suddenly, "that I don't think anyone would blame them for killing that monster."

Amaya nodded gratefully. "So, that's everything, I think. The mask you showed me was the one my mother had been wearing when she died. Hibiki wanted Izo to feel haunted and truly terrified before he died. That was when I knew."

Sajin nodded. "You should get some sleep." He stood up to leave. He knew he would be restless tonight, not just because of the horrors that would surely manifest themselves in his dreams tonight, but because he would miss that presence he had grown used to having by him while he slept. "Goodnight, Amaya."

"Wait." Sajin turned back. "There is still one more thing I need to tell you. Will you go somewhere with me tomorrow?" Sajin smiled, nodded, and started to leave, only to be called back once more. "Will you stay with me tonight? I'm not going to be able to fall asleep; I've gotten too used to hearing you breathe. Besides," she added with a coy smile, "it's not fair that you can't sleep in your own bed."

So Sajin lay down beside her and they both fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

**AN: Okay, that was a little depressing. Sorry 'bout that. It was what I had planned to do all along, but still, very depressing.**


	15. The Last Mask

Chapter 15: The Final Mask

It was through the hole in the wall surrounding the manor formerly belonging to Izo that Amaya led Sajin. After the events of the three siblings' life came to light, the property was restored to Amaya, the only heir to her parent's estate (and Izo's, stolen from her parents as it was). So, Sajin supposed he would have to start thinking of it as Lady Amaya Mochizuki's manor. He would also have to start thinking about saying goodbye.

They walked down a short path between tall hedges, so tall that even Sajin was dwarfed by them. They reached the end of this corridor only to face the opening to two more. Amaya grabbed Sajin's hand in hers. "Stay close," she said. "It's a maze. You could get lost."

"Why is there a maze in the middle of nowhere?"

"I put it here. It took years to do it. When it was tall enough, we could run out here and no one would ever be able to find us." She led him down several more turns in silence. Then she said, "Also, we didn't want Izo coming here." The maze opened up at what Sajin assumed was the center. It was nothing more than a circular clearing. But in the center were two headstones.

"Your parents." It was not a questions. "All those times you disappeared, you were here."

She nodded. "I planted wildflower seeds everywhere. In the spring they'll bloom and cover everything. They would have liked that." She seemed sad, but in the calm way of someone who has already come to peace with the death of her loved ones.

"Are you going to bring Takara and Hibiki here?" He knew she had talked with the head captain about the release of her siblings' bodies. "That way you can be close to them when you return home."

"This was never home. After my parents died, I never really had a home. Though I think I may know where I can start looking."

"Oh." Sajin still clung on to the hope that maybe she would still want to see him, if only because she could no longer sleep without hearing someone breathing beside her. "Is it far?"

She smiled. "Not too far. There are a few things I have to take care of first. Like selling Izo's manor. Or maybe I should just burn it to the ground…" She seemed to seriously consider it for a minute. "No, I need the money. I have something very important to do with that." Her eyes sparkled suddenly.

"Is it anything I can help you with?" He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible while he still could.

Amaya stared at him for a minute in a way that made his traitorous heart race. Then she said softly, "You can't help." His heart fell into his stomach. "But," it leapt back to life in his throat (_how can simple words do this to me?)_ "I wouldn't mind having you with me."

Sajin smiled, and said something he was too happy to feel stupid about until later. "Always."

* * *

It only took three days to sell Izo's manor to one of the other lords (the ugly bald one who kept glaring at Sajin the night of Izo's party, Amaya told him). It took Amaya another three to clear out what she wanted to keep (which wasn't much) or sell (significantly more). Sajin did not see her this entire time, but on the seventh day, just as the sun was setting, she showed up at his office, looking more put together, if more tired, then he had ever seen her. She was wearing a nice, simple yukata and had her hair combed back into a neat bun. She only said, "Are you still coming?" before starting a slow walk back outside.

An hour later they were in one of the upper rukon districts, a place where things were still nice but not noble-nice. There was not too much crime here, and especially nothing that would bother a captain, so they were able to walk along at a leisurely pace. Sajin was almost anxious to see what Amaya was up to, but simultaneously did not want to rush away the time he had with her, especially when she was holding onto his arm with one hand and had the fingers of the other hand interlaced with his.

She stopped them at one of the shops that still had its lights on. They stepped inside. For a moment Sajin was confused, but the smile on Amaya's face told him that whatever he was guessing was probably right. It was a mask shop. An old woman sat behind the counter painting one of the masks.

"Hello," she called without looking up. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, actually." Amaya took out a purse. She opened it, and Sajin saw how much money was in it. She closed it again and kept it clasped in her hands tightly. It had to be nearly everything she had gotten for the estate. "I would like to speak with your apprentice, please."

The old woman did not even look up from the mask. She reached out with the hand holding the brush, rang a little bell, and went back to painting. Sajin heard footsteps, and a moment later a young man descended the stairs at the back of the shop from the living quarters above. He smiled at Amaya and nodded at Sajin. Amaya handed him the full purse, turned, and led Sajin out the door. The young man stared after them with a smile on his face as he called, "Goodbye" just before the door closed.

They walked back to the Seireitei just as slowly as they had left it. Sajin did not speak until they were back within the gates. "I really don't understand you."

She did not comment on that, instead saying something that only backed up Sajin's statement. "You know that little place I mentioned I thought I would move to? Well, I can't go there right away. I have to attend the Soul Academy at least a year before I can be a shinigami. But the Head Captain thinks I have enough natural ability that I won't have to be there any longer than that and could probably be an officer afterwards. I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot."

"You're staying?" Sajin was surprised, happily so.

"Yeah. I thought about moving way out into the country, or apprenticing with one of the shop keepers in the fourth district, but realized I couldn't do it. I would miss you too much." She said it lightly, but Sajin could hear the undercurrent of seriousness behind it.

"Why would you miss me?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "That seems to be a normal emotion when you think about leaving someone you love."

_Someone you love. _"You lo—"

"Yes, I love you." Her eyes glittered up at him. "That's why I took you to meet my parents. To see if they approved of their daughter wanted to spend her life with a giant fur ball." She smiled teasingly. "Lucky for you, they approved." Her eyes grew dark for a minute. "Well, I mean, if you do, too, of course."

Sajin just stared at her for a minute. There was uncertainty in her eyes about what he would say. How could she be uncertain? He would not have that. So in one quick move, Sajin lifted a very surprised Amaya into his arms and kissed her. She was stiff with surprise for a split second before melting into him.

When they broke apart, they were both smiling. Her eyes were stormy with love now, with no trace of pain or fear. Sajin's own golden eyes reflected much the same.

"So," Amaya said a bit breathlessly, "does this mean I can stay with you?"

Sajin smiled and reiterated the first thing she had ever said to him. "As long as you don't have fleas."

She laughed and kissed him again.

* * *

In a little mask shop in the fourth district, an old woman sat adding the final touches onto a mask. "My masks have amazing capabilities, but even they cannot bring people back from the dead," she muttered to a shadowy figure in the corner.

Her apprentice stepped forward. "No, nothing can do that. But a person can teach someone with a little kido how to create a shield in their stomach to prevent poison from being absorbed, suppress what little reitsu they have, and otherwise make themselves appear dead."

The old woman lifted the mask to examine it more closely before making a few more touches. "An old man secretly righting an injustice. My kind of guy. Just a shame…"

She trailed off, as she was apt to do at intervals, but her apprentice nodded in understanding. "Some people are too broken to be saved. Sometimes it really is kinder to let them go."

The woman nodded. "At my age, that is something I can understand even better than you. But…"

The man picked up the conversation again. "She'll be fine. He really loves her. I could see that much. And," he smiled here, "he did not seem too surprised to see me."

"If he really loves Amaya, he'll learn to just go with whatever she decides to throw at him next. Now, as for you, I think you owe that lovely girl a mask. A good one. Something that reflects..."

He picked up a blank mask. Something that reflected…what? His second chance at life. His sister's newfound love. Their parents' deaths. Their sister who just could not fight anymore. An old captain and a nearly-as-old shop keeper who would never get recognition for what they had done, separately but in the same vein, to save a young life. His goodbye to his sister, because it would not be the last.

All of these things swirled around in his heart. So, he opened his eyes and dipped his brush. Then Hibiki Mochizuki began to paint.

**AN: Not what I had planned at all. But you know how characters take on a life of their own sometimes and pull the story where they need it to go? Well, that was what happened with Hibiki. He would have stayed dead, but someone left a comment that woke him back up, kicking and screaming that he had had a hard enough time; he was not going to die on top of it. I happened to agree and like where he was going, so, there it is. And so, to Gray dog, the one who sent my character off in his own direction with a single comment, thank you. I am happier with this ending and hope you are too.**


End file.
